Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing

Who speaks for China? Is it the old men of the politbureau or an activist like Wei Jingshsheng, who spent eighteen years in prison for writing a democratic manifesto? Is China’s future to be found amid the boisterous sleaze of an electoral campaign in Taiwan or in the maneuvers by which ordinary residents of Beijing quietly resist the authority of the state?

These are amongWho speaks for China? Is it the old men of the politbureau or an activist like Wei Jingshsheng, who spent eighteen years in prison for writing a democratic manifesto? Is China’s future to be found amid the boisterous sleaze of an electoral campaign in Taiwan or in the maneuvers by which ordinary residents of Beijing quietly resist the authority of the state?

These are among the questions that Ian Buruma poses in this enlightening and often moving tour of Chinese dissidence. Moving from the quarrelsome exile communities of the U. S. to Singapore and Hong Kong and from persecuted Christians to Internet “hacktivists,” Buruma captures an entire spectrum of opposition to the orthodoxies of the Communist Party. He explores its historical antecedents its conflicting notions of freedom and the paradoxical mix of courage and cussedness that inspires its members. Panoramic and intimate, disturbing and inspiring, Bad Elements is a profound meditation on the themes of national identity and political struggle....more

Community Reviews

This book covers the intellectual world of Chinese dissidents, ranging from exile in the West to the heart of China itself. One the way, it looks at dissent in repressively paternal Singapore and in the schizophrenic environment that is Hong Kong.

On reflection, I raised my rating of this book. When I first read it, parts of it put me off, but I realize that I was not so much upset with the book, as such, but frustrated and maddened by the some of the dissidents it covers.

One of the themes thatThis book covers the intellectual world of Chinese dissidents, ranging from exile in the West to the heart of China itself. One the way, it looks at dissent in repressively paternal Singapore and in the schizophrenic environment that is Hong Kong.

On reflection, I raised my rating of this book. When I first read it, parts of it put me off, but I realize that I was not so much upset with the book, as such, but frustrated and maddened by the some of the dissidents it covers.

One of the themes that examined in this book is that of collective Chinese identity, what is considered properly Chinese. This has traditionally been the obsession of Chinese rulers, from the philosopher Confucius to the People’s Republic, and might be seen as a source of repressive conformity. Buruma shows how this is also an obsession for dissidents and used as an ideological weapon.Buruma takes odds with the idea, held by Chinese authorities, many Westerners, and not a few dissidents, that the Chinese are culturally incapable of democracy. In China, this line of thought goes, democracy will lead to unrest and chaos. To refute this, Buruma points to Taiwan as an example of a Chinese democracy.

I found this book was much more interesting the closer it got to China. Buruma own analysis indicates why this might have been. Exiles are removed from the ongoing ideological discourse of Chinese society. They are seen by dissidents in China as having little to say that applies to the situation on the ground. As such, the exiles become more and more abstract in their thinking, and often more shrill in their pronouncements. They obsess over squabbles with other exiles and seem slightly sad, dissipated figures.

The places the book really hooked me were the sections on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Buruma is one of the better commentators on East Asian affairs, and it shows here. He gives the reader a detailed view of the ideological cracks and inconsistencies in a China that is pursuing the status of great power and, at the same time, suffers from a deep-seated over-sensitivity to perceived insult or implied weakness....more

I liked the concept of Buruma's book chasing the Chinese diaspora around the world, before ending up on the Mainland itself. The chaotic world of dissidents and denunciations makes for depressing reading, as are the attempts of his subjects to explain what 'Chineseness' is and what 'we Chinese' meant. It is perhaps good then that he never attempts to be an expert, but instead writes as an outsider following the shattered dreams and lives around the globe. The book is inevitably one-sided, and thI liked the concept of Buruma's book chasing the Chinese diaspora around the world, before ending up on the Mainland itself. The chaotic world of dissidents and denunciations makes for depressing reading, as are the attempts of his subjects to explain what 'Chineseness' is and what 'we Chinese' meant. It is perhaps good then that he never attempts to be an expert, but instead writes as an outsider following the shattered dreams and lives around the globe. The book is inevitably one-sided, and the shades of grey that reality often is gets lost in the anger and disappointment - at times interspersed with hope and even delusion. But if anything, it tells the stories of many individuals who have lived to tell the tale despite horrifying experiences, and that in itself makes it worth a read.

Sadly, the book is already outdated, as events in the region have moved at breakneck speed towards loosening up of official controls (at least on the surface) and it now 16 years since the handover of Hong Kong (with increasing hostility towards mainlanders in the territory), the DPP in Taiwan has already gained and lost power (with many of his interviewees having held high political office since, thus completing the democratic evolution process in Taiwan), and Singapore too has more than a couple of elected opposition members of parliament with the governing party's share of the popular vote dipping closer towards the 50% mark. It would be fascinating to note the differences should a similar round of interviews be done today. ...more

Good, but hard to follow at times. If you find it hard to keep foreign names straight, this will be a challenge. Still, it's intensely insightful and helps for the university students of this time understand what happened in Beijing in the spring of 1989.